Leading With Nice Interview Series

Leadership can be lonely. It can be without a map to guide you. It can often make you question your own decisions. Monica Loewen has charged head-first into new opportunities and challenges where she foraged new paths — sometimes for herself and sometimes for the organization she was leading. In this episode, we speak to her about how to do this well and also the value of empathy in blazing new trails. 

You’ll definitely want to get more Monica after listening to this episode. Check out her website: https://monicaloewen.com. 

I’m the son and brother of entrepreneurial women. So when the chance to interview Maria Locker, founder and CEO of RevolutionHER, came up, I jumped at it. 

In this episode, Maria shares what it looks like to pivot not once, but twice as she left her full-time job to launch one organization and then grow it into what it is today. She also gives great insight into how you can support entrepreneurial woman in your life. 

As the founder and managing director of The Orion Group, Julie Mahfouz Rezvani helps companies find the right fit for jobs. Conversely, she helps people, looking for a career change, to land in the right place. But it’s not as simple as matching a resume with skills requirements — at least it shouldn’t be. On this episode, Julie shares insights from almost two decades in recruitment and staffing to help us understand the role empathy plays in the process of hiring and looking for a new job and how being service minded can bring you massive benefits. 

We talk about two great resources on this episode:

• Necessary Endings by Dr. Henry Cloud 
• Increase Your Empathy Webinar

What happens when you put art and ale together? Collective Arts Brewing out of Hamilton, Ont., had a strong desire to not just create great beer, but they wanted their beverages to be the catalyst behind building a strong community, investing in true diversity and being purposeful around championing creativity. In this episode, Matt Johnston, the brewery’s co-founder and CEO, breaks down their thought process and the impacts these decisions have had on the company. 

Leading the Canadian arm of Compassion Canada, Allison Alley oversees 125 staff as they work with children and their families in economically depressed countries. As you can imagine, 2020 was a challenging year and in response, Allison wrote a thought-provoking blog post on Compassion Canada’s website titled "12 things I’ve learned in the last 12 months." Every one of the 12 things were clearly the result of living a year of leadership where she was faced with each reality. We invited her on the podcast to dig further.  

We’re living through the middle of a struggle between sharing our personal information with companies and organizations and the desire to retain some level of privacy. Everything from renting an apartment to browsing social media asks us to give up more and more of our personal information. So what is the answer to this? Some companies have proven they can’t be trusted with our information. How do we help companies and organizations regain our trust? The answer is by being more private. On this episode of the Leading With Nice Interview Series, we speak with Barbara Tallent and Jory Des Jardins from The @ Company about a novel approach to help companies and individuals build trust by maintaining privacy.

Ezra Byer has moved throughout the United States and Canada as he’s pursued a vision for community building. But during his time in Toronto’s East End, he was afflicted with depression and anxiety. It was so impactful that it altered the way he would respond to his family and his leadership suffered. Having been in the trenches — and highly intentional around discovering a way out — he’s written a book about what to do when depression and anxiety is crippling you. Today, he discusses some practical steps leaders can take when suffering with depression and anxiety. 

Angie Peters has worked in corporate, social enterprise, and today leads the Toronto-based Yonge Street Mission as their President and CEO. Throughout her career, Angie has made a habit of creating greater value than should rightfully exist. She does this by seeking out intentional partnerships and creating collaborations where others wouldn’t expect to look. While she’s naturally gifted at doing this, it is a skill that can be taught and on today’s episode, she shares her steps to creating successful collaborations. 

Shad’s career as a rapper has spanned almost two decades. Producing art and selling out shows for close to 20 years brings with it a dynamic approach to keeping an audience engaged. Shad does this through creating music that inspires discussion, provokes thought and engages your curiosity. 

He speaks about not only telling stories, but receiving stories. His leadership shines in situations where he is given the opportunity to be doing both. 

Why does a group of car dealerships hire a creative director? Usually a post exclusive to advertising agencies, PFAFF Automotive Partners recognized the value of creativity in helping them not only sell cars, but connect their passion to that of their customers. But it takes a unique individual to fill such a role. Laurance Yap is a veteran of automobilia having worked in and around cars with a view through a variety of lenses. 

Creativity can be used to lead, influence and yes, sell cars. Laurance shares some of what inspires him when seeking to do just that.